Chasing the Horizon
Reflections on writing, learning, and growth from the first quarter of 2025
In December, I shared the system I use to plan my life, which I call “segmented planning.” It helps me bridge the gap between an ideal lifestyle — something I envision years into the future — and my daily actions, connecting long-term goals to short-term activities through multiple intermediate segments.
One of the segments I use is quarterly, dividing the year into four distinct periods:
Q1 is January through March
Q2 is April through June
Q3 is July through September
Q4 is October through December
Since it’s the end of March, I’m about to conduct my quarterly planning exercise. During this session, which generally takes about 30-45 minutes, I review what I accomplished over the last three months, evaluate progress against my yearly plans, and identify what (if anything) I need to adjust. I use this time to ensure I stay aligned with the long-term vision represented by my ideal lifestyle.
I do this for all parts of my life, professionally and personally. Given that this Substack is a way for me to grow as a writer and lifelong learner, I thought I’d take this post to share some of my reflections concerning these areas.
Reflections on My Writing Journey
It has been almost a year since I started to write more consistently — motivated by a desire to find my second mountain — and three months since launching this Substack.
The best way I can describe trying to improve as a writer is that it’s like chasing the horizon. It’s a constant grind filled with highs, like the excitement of clearly expressing a complex idea, and lows, like the frustration of struggling to pull an essay together.
This journey is a long one towards a destination I’ll never reach. And I think that’s why I love it so much.
As a proponent of grit and the effort it takes to improve at a craft, I’m immensely enjoying the process. It is satisfying to transform an idea into something cohesive that I’m excited to publish.
I’ve noticed two main benefits since beginning this writing practice.
First and most obvious, I’m more comfortable with the end-to-end process for each essay. My first drafts are cleaner, and my rewrites are crisper. My ability to structure arguments has improved, making even challenging ideas feel more approachable. When I return to what I wrote as recently as six months ago, I see better ways of communicating an idea. I think that’s normal and a sign that I’m growing.
A second — and more unexpected — benefit is that I’m thinking more clearly. Writing about a topic forces me to truly understand it; any gaps in my knowledge quickly become apparent on the page. For example, I assumed I could write about exponential growth effortlessly until I tried it. After diving into the essay, I discovered that my understanding lacked depth. Researching and translating the concept into my own words sharpened my grasp of it.
Reflecting on this progress naturally leads me to review the goals I set earlier this year and consider what adjustments I might need to make moving forward.
My goal in the first quarter was to start this Substack and write six new posts. As I hit the publish button today, this will mark my seventh post in 2025, an achievement that’s reinforced my commitment and encouraged me to keep pushing my limits.
I want to build upon this progress in the next quarter. Instead of doing more of the same, I want to continue to grow. As such, I plan to expand what I will be writing. Though I can’t yet share specifics, I have started to work on a larger writing project that will extend into the spring and summer.
I also hope to expand the mediums through which I share content. In upcoming posts, I plan to incorporate video to communicate ideas more clearly and engagingly, especially with complex concepts that would benefit from visual illustration.
Side note: If you have video editing and/or animation experience, please reach out to me at contact@lukich.io. I’d like to explore bringing some ideas to life, but I lack experience in these domains.
I’ve learned from experience — sometimes the hard way — the risks of overcommitting myself to projects. Doing quality work is important, but I also hold myself to high standards in my roles as a father, husband, employee, and beyond. To maintain balance and quality across my life, I plan to reduce my posting frequency on this Substack to once per month.
I’m exploring three essay ideas that will fill my Q2 content calendar. I’ve started first drafts for each, all at various stages of development. I’m excited to refine these ideas further and share them with you soon.
For the rest of today’s post, I’ll share insights I found intriguing during Q1 and offer a peek at what’s exciting me for Q2.
What I Enjoyed Learning in Q1
Charlie Munger & Poor Charlie’s Almanac
Charlie Munger was a fascinating man and polymath. He’s best known for the incredible wealth he built alongside his partner, Warren Buffett, through the successful operation of Berkshire Hathaway.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack is a compilation of Munger’s wisdom, consisting of eleven speeches and talks he gave throughout his life. Munger admired Benjamin Franklin, and this book’s title is a tribute to Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack.
I had seen Charlie Munger referenced as a visionary by many thought leaders but didn’t know much about him before reading this book. Now, I can see what all the hype was about.
Munger believed that we all must figure out where we have an edge — our circles of competence — and play in that realm. Everywhere else, we should develop a latticework of multidisciplinary mental models across a wide array of disciplines. He believed that the most important of these models lie in psychology, as the inherent biases present in humans create opportunities for those who can understand them.
Since reading this book, I have been seeing the world through different lenses. Whenever I see a problem, I look for a framework to help guide my thinking.
Munger never formally published a book, so these compiled speeches offer the clearest insight into his brilliant thinking. I love the way he thinks about the world. It resonated with me so much.
Papyrus
Another book I read this quarter that impacted my thinking was Papyrus, which tapped into my growing fascination with books and ancient wisdom. I have already written an essay inspired by this book, so I don’t need to go into more depth about its contents.
The more I study ancient Greece and Rome, the deeper my curiosity grows. The knowledge and culture these civilizations cultivated were unmatched in their time, leading to remarkable advancements that continue to inspire us today.
More than any other in recent memory, this book has spurred ideas:
Ever since reading about the Great Library of Alexandria, I’ve been fascinated by the idea that it was essentially one of history’s earliest data warehouses. As a marketing data professional, I spend much time thinking about data storage and related use cases. Egyptian ruler Ptolemy I envisioned the library as a repository for all the world’s knowledge. I’m drawing inspiration from this vision as I prepare a speaking session in June about marketing analytics and the power of owning and centralizing information.
The Romans incorporated much of the intellectual best practices of the Greeks as they expanded upon their empire, such as libraries and bookstores. I’m planning a trip to Rome this fall and am excited to explore some of this city’s literary history from antiquity.
Audiobooks
For a long time, I stubbornly believed listening to audiobooks was cheating and refused to give them a chance. I finally relented last year and downloaded a book to pass the time on a long drive. I picked the next one from my nonfiction-heavy reading list — How to Win Friends and Influence People, the famous business book by Dale Carnegie. About 30 minutes into my trip, I recognized that I had made a mistake and struggled through the remainder of the book. After finishing, I felt validated with my audiobook aversion and returned to reading physical books.
After some prodding from my friend Andy, I decided to give audiobooks a second chance, choosing to listen to Stephen King’s The Stand in January. After the opening chapters, I was hooked. I listened to that book on my daily walks for the rest of the month as King captured me through a masterclass of storytelling over 47 hours (it’s a monster of a book).
I realize now that genre matters when it comes to audiobooks, and fiction translates well to the medium. I find fiction compelling through audio because a good narrator can create an immersive atmosphere that enhances storytelling in ways I hadn’t expected. I followed up my experience with The Stand by listening to Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in February and 11-22-63, another King novel, in March.
I’m sticking with physical books for nonfiction, but I’ve enjoyed adding fiction to my reading — something that was lacking previously. Adding an extra book per month while walking for 45 minutes daily might have been the highest ROI activity I’ve incorporated these past few months.
Video as a Communication Medium
Exploring audiobooks broadened my perspective on different learning mediums, encouraging me to look into video as another powerful way to communicate ideas.
Deconstructing complex concepts can benefit from a combination of writing and visuals. In addition, the audio within these videos can layer in some additional context or examples that might otherwise be excess when writing an essay.
I’ve learned much about video hardware and software in the past month. I purchased a quality camera and invested in setting up a recording area in my office. If I do some video work, I might as well have decent production quality.
Expanding Horizons: Storytelling, Career Growth, & Travel in Q2
Beyond my writing, I’m excited about several other projects in Q2.
I’m eager to grow as a storyteller and put some of my newly acquired video knowledge into practice. My prior experience in this space is limited. When I developed Solver School, I recorded 40+ hours of material. However, my approach included screen shares of PowerPoint slides and software demonstrations — effective for pure education but lacking in entertainment value. Moving forward, I’m eager to create content that’s both educational and engaging. Additionally, I’ve begun experimenting with video in my professional life, creating complementarity between my career and personal interests that allows each to reinforce the other.
Concerning my professional career, I’ve become more involved in business development as I’ve taken on more senior roles. After spending much of my career in solution delivery, I find it rewarding to tackle new challenges, like developing solutions tailored to market needs and sharpening my communication skills to executive audiences.
Finally, with spring comes the thought of travel. After cold Michigan winters, I’m always ready to get out of the house. My family and I recently returned from a spring break trip to New York, where we saw The Lion King on Broadway and enjoyed legendary NY pizza at John’s of Bleeker. I’m planning vacations for the upcoming months, including our summer lake vacation in northern Michigan and a trip with my wife to Italy in the fall. Given these plans, I anticipate diving into more books about ancient Roman history in Q3, connecting directly to what I’ll experience firsthand.
My Reading Plans for Q2
In Stephen King’s excellent writing memoir, On Writing, he said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”
In Q1, I read 28 books — a pace I’m unlikely to sustain as the warmer weather draws me outdoors more frequently.
There’s a stack of intriguing titles sitting on my desk that I’m excited to tackle. However, as I read, my curiosity often leads me down side paths. As a result, I usually follow my current interests and don’t plan more than one or two books in advance.
So, while I can’t say for sure what I’ll read in Q2, here’s what currently sits on my desk, ready for exploration in the coming months to fuel new insights and ideas:
Engineering in Plain Sight by Grady Hillhouse
On the Edge by Nate Silver
Burn Math Class by Jason Wilkes
Against the Grain by James C. Scott
The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen
The Brass Check by Upton Sinclair
Seek by Denis Johnson
The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Super Mentors by Eric Koester
As I wrap up this update, I’d like to return to where I started this post — my ongoing journey as a writer.
My development in this area is one of the most important priorities in my life, having tangible benefits in my career. As I’ve moved into senior leadership roles professionally, honing my communication skills has improved my ability to influence, lead teams, and articulate strategic visions. It’s also the foundation of a potential second career in teaching or speaking that I envision transitioning toward in the future.
William Zinsser, author of the excellent book, On Writing Well, once said, “Writing and learning are the same process,” and “We write to find out what we know and what we want to say.”
Those quotes summarize the most transformative part of this experience for me. My effort in this endeavor has unlocked new areas of thought beyond any specific goal or outcome. I’m eager to continue to work on this skill, explore new ways to communicate my thoughts and ideas, and see where it takes me.
I look forward to sharing more insights with you in April. Until then, happy reading.
All the best,
Mike